Omar N. Bradley Quotes

Amateurs study tactics; professionals study logistics.

We live in a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants, in a world that has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. We have solved the mystery of the atom and forgotten the lessons of the Sermon on the Mount. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about dying than we know about living.

The greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of the led. This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness.

Leadership means firmness, not harshness or bullying; understanding, not weakness; justice, not irresponsible freedom; humaneness, not intolerance; generosity, not selfishness; pride, not egotism.

I learned that good judgment comes from experience and that experience grows out of mistakes.

Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.

America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry, and when that momentum runs down, God help America.

The second best decision in time is infinitely better than the perfect decision too late.

The nation needs men who think in terms of service to their country and not in terms of their country's debt to them.

Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.

Our humanity is trapped by moral adolescents. We have too many men of science, too few men of God. The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom and power without conscience.

Dependability, integrity, the characteristic of never knowingly doing anything wrong, that you would never cheat anyone, that you would give everybody a fair deal. Character is a sort of an all-inclusive thing. If a man has character, everyone has confidence in him.

If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.

Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.

The smell of death overwhelmed us even before we passed through the stockade. More than 3200 naked, emaciated bodies had been flung into shallow graves. Others lay in the streets where they had fallen. ... Eisenhower's face whitened into a mask. Patton walked over to a corner and sickened. I was too revolted to speak. For here death had been so fouled by degradation that it both stunned and numbed us.

The greatest leader in the world could never win a campaign unless he understood the men he had to lead.

It is to the United States that all freemen look for the light and the hope of the world. Unless we dedicate ourselves completely to this struggle, unless we combat hunger with food, fear with trust, suspicion with faith, fraud with justice - and threats with power, nations will surrender to the futility, the hopelessness, the panic on which wars feed.

Freedom-no word was ever spoken that has held out greater hope, demanded greater sacrifice, needed more to be nurtured, blessed more the giver. . . or came closer to being God's will on earth.

Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it.

This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.

The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.

A piece of paper makes you an officer, a radio makes you a commander.

I am convinced that the best service a retired general can perform is to turn in his tongue along with his suit and to mothball his opinions.

In war there is no second prize for the runner-up.

We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the sermon on the mount.